Tasting
Wine Industry Advisor traces Champagne's story from Roman roots to royal ceremony
A new two-part podcast series draws on a 200-page Union des Maisons de Champagne encyclopedia to chart the region's history from late Roman times through the Middle Ages and beyond.
What happened
On 10 June 2026, Wine Industry Advisor released the first instalment of a two-part podcast series dedicated to the history of Champagne. The episode traces the region's viticultural origins from the late fifth century, when Roman influence first shaped the landscape, through the medieval period. A particular focus falls on the thirteenth century, when Champagne assumed a ceremonial role in coronation rites — a distinction that would prove formative for the region's prestige. The source material underpinning the series is a 200-page historical encyclopedia compiled by the Union des Maisons de Champagne, a document whose scope extends through to the 1980s.
Why it matters
Champagne's contemporary standing is inseparable from the long arc of its history, and this series offers a structured account of how that standing was earned. By returning to primary source material assembled by the Union des Maisons de Champagne, the podcast grounds its narrative in institutional knowledge rather than popular mythology. The coronation connection established in the thirteenth century is not a footnote; it is one of the earliest and most consequential associations between a wine region and sovereign power in European history. For those who follow Champagne closely, understanding these foundations illuminates why the appellation commands the cultural authority it does today.
Context
The Union des Maisons de Champagne represents the major houses of the region and has long served as a custodian of collective memory and commercial interest alike. The encyclopedia from which this podcast draws its material spans from Roman settlement through to the modern era, making it an unusually comprehensive record. The decision to serialise this history across two episodes reflects both the depth of the source material and the growing appetite for long-form, historically grounded content within the wine trade. The second part of the series has yet to be released. Together, the two instalments are positioned to offer a continuous narrative of how a French region became one of the most recognised wine names in the world.